


Sing for You

by Ravens_WritingDesk



Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Haruno Sakura-centric, Hatake Kakashi is a Popstar, I basically use K-pop songs like this is Across the Universe, Konoha-pop, Musicals, Rating May Change, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravens_WritingDesk/pseuds/Ravens_WritingDesk
Summary: Ko-no-Ha was the reigning male pop sensation for a number of years until all nine members decided it was time to do separate things. Kakashi no longer feels inspired to sing but he just can't pull himself away from the music industry. He still works on new music and produces content with up and coming talent.Sakura is in her last year of high school and expects it to go as well as the previous years. When her friends make her try something outside of her comfort zone she stumbles into making her wildest dreams come true.Nothing can stop their paths from crossing but can discovering themselves along the way keep them together?
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I've had for months and since I've read so much Naruto fanfiction lately while self-isolating I decided I might as well make some of my own. Hehe. This is completely different from what I usually write and is OOC and completely self-indulgent like all the snacks I've been eating.
> 
> I really like the thought of Konoha shinobi being pop stars. Actually I probably like the thought of shonen boys being in a boy band. I remember this video of Shingeki no Kyojin boys dancing to This Love by Shinhwa and I was converted into a Kpop lover. Also A Star is Born is sad. Any version of it. There's a Bollywood version called Aashiqui 2 and it is sooooo good. The music just kills my soul and brings it back in the best way possible and I cry every time so I kinda wanted to write something feels good especially right now. I have no idea what's going to happen in this story or how long it's going to be. I have certain scenes I wanna to write and certain songs I wanna use so we'll see how it goes. That brings us to the next part. Which is very very important.
> 
> Note: the characters are not mine, they are Kishimoto's and the lyrics and songs I use in this story are totally not mine either. Only this story is from my brain. The songs used are Korean pop songs that I just usee English translations of. I will link the songs and translations I used in the notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs in this chapter are:
> 
> Love Me Right by EXO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFvFTmtuGHE  
> Lionheart by Girl's Generation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxKg5RewmPM
> 
> There will be so many EXO songs, I promise.

The announcer’s voice rings out across the entire arena, “Coming back from a break filled with injuries and hard work, they’re stronger than ever with their new single. Here to perform ‘Love Me Right’, for the first time, are the members of Ko-no-Ha!”

The lights go dim for a second as a buzz of melody comes through the speakers. Red and blue lights focus on the stage as nine silhouettes are outlined. They each wear black pants accented by stylish individualized shirts. The crowd screams as the music picks up. A figure with chin-length brown hair, that frames his face, starts dancing as the other silhouettes start moving behind and near him. The crowd screams “Genma!” as he starts singing. 

“Take your tiiiime, for some reason, it’s a heart-pounding night. ♪” The crowd starts singing along with the performers, “Na na na na, na na na na~”

The choreography reveals another member with brown hair that is kept short. He starts singing, “So toniiight, let’s run to the end of the moon. ♪” The crowd once again follows along with the ‘yea’s that are sung. 

A figure with black hair, styled in a bowl-cut, jumps to the front of the stage and flows into a rap, “Just right! Ignite your engine, step on the pedal. Everything is special, you and I look good together” He flashes his pearly white teeth into the camera trailing him, “whatever you want, imma make it work. ♪” He pauses on stage in a pose with his signature thumbs-up.

Another figure with dark blue hair pops up behind the bowl-cut and continues the rap flawlessly, “Shawty, Imma party till the sun down. What is this mysterious feeling? Come to me, hurry, before the sunrise. Wherever I am, me without you is a nobody. ♪” He rubs his beard and does a spin as Genma, behind him, hits a note and all the figures move to faster choreography, jumping into the first chorus. 

“Ouuu!~”

The crowd starts screaming louder as a figure with silver hair moves to the middle of the stage and starts to sing, “On this highway, it’s a runway, your eyes that look into mine are the milky way~♪! Just love me right!”

\---

SMACK! 

A hand snakes out of a layer of fluffy light blue blankets. Quick as a viper, it hits the wooden bedside table. The music still continues.

“Baby, love me-” The hand moves again in the next few seconds and aims again for the radio alarm currently playing loudly on top of the table. The room goes quiet for a minute or two as a pair of green eyes peek out from the covers and look at the alarm blaring 7:04AM. With a groan, the covers are tossed aside and a pink-haired figure sits up and stretches. Her eyes close with a big yawn.

“Sakura! You better be up. Food’s downstairs.” A loud and modulated voice followed after a quick knock at her bedroom door. 

The pinkette sighs and moves to get up, “I’m up, I’m up!” She quickly makes her bed and then moves to her closet. She hums a tune to herself, “just love me right, aha. My entire universe is you, just love me right…” as she picks out a yellow top and her favorite blue jeans. She grabs a clean pair of underwear and her towel as she exits the room, making her way slowly to the shower.

Twenty minutes pass and Sakura leaves the bathroom with a fresh face and combed hair. She makes her way downstairs, into the living room, and greets her father. Kizashi still appears as a looming man as he sits on the couch reading something on his laptop. He looks up from the screen and smiles at his daughter who shares his same pink locks.

“Morning Dad. How’d you sleep?” She mumbles loud enough for him to hear as she makes her way into the kitchen, towards the scent of cooked food.

“Slept like a log last night, even woke up in the fireplace” he grins as he gets up and collects his mug resting on the coffee table in front of him, following Sakura into the kitchen. 

A groan is heard from that direction followed by an, “It’s too early for this, Kizashi”

“Aw Mebuki...” A giggle from his daughter breaks Kizashi from pouting at his blonde wife, “see, Saku thinks it’s funny”

Sakura takes a seat at the kitchen table opposite her mother and with a “thank you for the food” she starts filling her plate, “I feel like I'll be fifty and you'll still call me 'Saku'.”

“Of course! No matter how old you are. But you grew up so quickly. Mebuki, love, our little blossom has grown,” he mimes wiping a tear. Mebuki hides a smile behind her mug. 

“Are you ready for your last year?” Mebuki remembers a smaller Sakura on her first day of school. She hid behind her mother until the last second before the bell chimed. Now Sakura was starting her last year of high-school, almost eighteen, and was already looking at med programs all the way in Konohagakure, far away from their modest home in Sunagakure.

“Yeah, it’ll be just like every year, I'm guessing”

“You never know,” Kizashi pipes in, “you probably just jinxed it right there.” Sakura and Mekubi both raise their eyebrows at him and go back to eating. 

Breakfast is a quick and happy affair filled with laughs and delicious grilled fish and rice. As Sakura is helping her dad with clearing the table, there is a knock at the front door. Mebuki goes to answer, “Ah! Temari, good morning.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Haruno.”

“Sakura! Temari is here!” Mebuki gestures for the person to enter as Sakura finishes dumping the plates in the sink and washes her hands. Mebuki and a new figure enter the kitchen. Temari is a lean young woman with spiky blonde hair that is usually in ponytails - the most she’s willing to do on a normal day that doesn’t take much work. Her arms are crossed over her chest, hiding a grey graphic tee with the word ‘seriously’ printed over an image of rolling eyes. She leans against the frame of the doorway.

“Morning, Mr. Haruno,” Temari nods at Kizashi before turning to the other pinkette, “Sakura, save me. Kankuro is going on about something to do with stairs in the middle of forests all morning.” She levels a deadpanned look at Sakura who just looks clueless.

“I’ll just walk. I didn’t need the ride anyway” Kankuro was known to get easily obsessed with the weirdest conspiracies and throughout her entire high school life, she’s been front row to all the tangents he runs off on.

“Oh no. You’re so not leaving me with him” Temari makes sure Sakura walks past her before saying, “Later” to Sakura’s parents before turning around and following the other girl. Sakura picks up her bag on the way out and calls out to her parents.

“Bye Mom! Bye Dad!”

“Have a good day, honey!” Kizashi calls from near the sink.

Mebuki follows Sakura and Temari to the door, “Tell your brothers we said hi, Temari. And Sakura, don’t forget, you have practice this afternoon at four.”

“Ah, yeah, I won’t.” "Sure thing Mrs. Haruno."

Sakura and Temari walk further to the black car parked in front of her house as the door closes behind them. 

“What is your brother going on about now?”

“Oh just wait. Gaara fell asleep in the back on the way here and I forgot my earbuds. Ugh. Plus, he keeps turning off the radio when I put it on.” The disgust is plain in the blonde’s tone.

As Sakura opens the car door and slides into the back seat she hears a male voice, “do not go near the stairs, dude, just no.” She looks at the red-head sitting in the back and gives a weak grin, “Morning, Gaara. Hey Kankuro.”

“Make him stop.” Gaara turns tired green eyes towards Sakura as he burrows into a brown sweater and pastes himself against the door on the other side of the car. “He stayed up all night reading some weird shit online and made me listen to all of it.” Gaara punctuates his statement by pointing out his dark circles.

Sakura chuckles as Temari puts on her seatbelt and smacks the brunette in the driver’s seat on the back of his head with a “Shut up” when he continues to talk about forest rangers and people disappearing.

“Hey! I’m the one with the car.” Kankuro whines but stays quiet as Temari presses a button on the dashboard and a pop song echoes throughout the vehicle. It’s familiar and catchy to Sakura and keeps her good mood going.

"Tell me why, why does my heart keep shaking? I'm right here, right next to you. Snap out of it, lion heart ♪,” she starts singing along with Temari right away. Kankuro starts humming along with the girls and starts shimmying his shoulders. Gaara just stares out the window while tapping his fingers along to the beat. The ride to school is filled with singing and Sakura thinks this is the perfect way to start the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we know Genma and Kakashi are definitely two of the nine Ko-no-Ha members. Wanna guess who the three ones revealed in this chapter are and who the others might be?
> 
> Also, stairs in the woods. If you know where that obscure conspiracy theory thing is from you get a brownie point.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I basically have the next few chapters planned out and I just need to sit down and write em out. 
> 
> The song in this chapter is:  
> Sad Song by Baek A Yeon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbB3qxJjaOU
> 
> The translation is in the captions of the video.

The door to the classroom slides open with a thud. Sakura walks through the door with two water bottles. She passes one over to Kankuro who stopped helping one of his fellow classmates with moving furniture the moment his friend appeared. Sakura smiles and stretches out her arm towards him and gestures to one of the bottles. He happily takes it and uncorks it, gulping down water like a man in the middle of the desert. After he finishes downing the entire contents of the bottle he lets out a sigh.

“Ahh. Thanks, Sakura.”

“No problem. Unofficial first day always sucks.” She snickers. She thinks it sucks for the people who get caught to do all the work, like Kankuro.

“You’re telling me... Where’s Temari?” Usually, the blonde wasn’t far away from her green-eyed friend. Temari loudly made the claim numerous times that Sakura is the only person in her grade, including her brother, that she can stand for prolonged periods of time.

“She went to the first-year classes to help out Gaara,” Sakura elaborated the 'help out' with air quotations, “but really she just ditched when Baki-sensei said he needed volunteers to clean the supply closets.” Sakura also got stuck into cleaning by being too slow to get away from the teacher. It took her a few minutes to sneak away.

The unofficial first day was the Friday before the official opening of the new school year where students came in to deal with orientation, to find their lockers and timetables and, most importantly, to help with cleaning up classrooms and arrange desks and chairs for the following Monday. That’s the reason students elected to not wear their uniforms that day if it’ll just be covered with dust and sweat.

Kankuro starts laughing but it gets cut short when someone from the hallway comes running in, “Baki-sensei is coming!” Everyone in the room starts to scatter. Baki-sensei is a strict man and happens to always oversee the cleaning activities. Students like to joke that he’s very militaristic making students fall in line to do their duties. 

“Shit!” Kankuro looks around the room and runs over to the window thanking the universe that the third-year classes are on the ground floor. He opens the window and jumps out, turning back to look at Sakura.

“Are you serious?” She asks incredulously. 

“Come on! Let’s go! This is the third classroom I’ve been moving stuff in and Mikoshi ditched me after the first one.” 

Kankuro pulls on Sakura’s arm until she reluctantly starts moving to exit through the window. They both take off running to the gymnasium, laughing along the way, knowing Temari would be lounging in her natural habitat - among the kendo supplies. A smirking Temari and Gaara are sprawled on the mats when they arrive. Gaara is looking over a sheet of paper and snacking on a meat bun.

“Took you long enough.”

“Sorry if I’m a good student, sis.”

“Says the one who jumped out the window.”

“Back me up, here, Sakura!”

“How about no. Where’d you guys get food from? I was gone for like thirty minutes.” She catches a packet as Temari tosses one her way.

“A magician never reveals his-” “Matsuri gave us.”

“Ugh. Killjoy.” Temari aimed a rolled-up paper ball at Gaara’s head. When it hits its target, she turns towards the pinkette, “anyway, want to sleep over tonight? To commemorate our last year of suffering?”

“Sure,” Sakura tucks a bit of her shoulder-length hair behind her ear, “I’ve got practice with Yashamaru-sensei so I’ll head over to your place later.”

Gaara perks up when he hears mention of his favorite uncle, “Uncle is back from Kiri?”

“Yeah, Rasa mentioned this morning that he came back yesterday,” Temari elaborates. Temari has called her step-dad ‘Rasa’ for as long as Sakura has known her. She questions Sakura, “How long is practice today?” 

“Maybe an hour? Sensei just got back and he’s been making me work on my range for forever, which means I’ve been singing the same song over and over again.” Sakura sighs. Singing lessons started out as a way for her to get out of her shell as a child with Yashamaru's mother. He took over her lessons after his mother got sick. Now it evolved into a routine hobby of practicing whenever Yashamaru was in Sunagakure. Her parents encourage her music sessions and keep in contact with Yashamaru whenever he comes back to his hometown. That was how Sakura met the Sabaku siblings since sensei is Temari and Gaara’s uncle and Kankuro’s step-uncle. They are very close with him and visit him often when he's in town. 

“I’ll let Rasa know you’re coming for six then. Mom said she’s making dango today, too.”

“Yes!” Sakura does a little happy sway from side to side. She quickly pulls out her phone to send a message to her parents about Temari’s invite. Kankuro starts teasing Gaara in the background about Matsuri’s crush on the younger boy while he tries swiping a meat bun from his brother.

\---

Yashamaru’s apartment is simple and clean; the prize of his home is a quaint little area in his living room designated towards music and highlighted by the upright piano and a walnut dark wood bench on display. A music stand with sheet music sits to the side of the piano. A relaxing melody is played by the light-brunette sitting at the piano, his long fingers trailing along the keys fluently and practiced.

“I sing it because my heart breaks… I sing a sad song only. I sing it because I can’t forget you. It is over but ♯♪ -” the music comes to a stop as Yashamaru turns his brown eyes to the girl next to him.

“Stop there.”

“Ah… yeah that part feels tight.”

“When you’re going high you’re locking your jaw and can’t hit the note right. Try to relax.” Yashamaru instructs Sakura as she starts fumbling with the sheet music in front of her. He smiles, “ok let’s go over scales again.”

“Yes, sensei.” They go over an exercise in ascending pitch for a few minutes. Sakura follows along vocally as Yashamaru plays an ascending scale on the piano. He pauses, checking to see that she’s relaxing her shoulders and neck before he starts playing the opening chords of the song he played before. A light breeze comes through the open window and rustles the thin, green curtains.

“Ok, one, two, three. Breathe and begin.”

Sakura lets out a breath and begins softly, “Let me sing a sad song, what we always listened to together… somewhere, it seems like you’re singing the same song….♩” she continues to sing beautifully and when it gets closer to where she needs to reach the high note, Yashamaru peeks over at her and sees tense shoulders as if she is bracing for an attack.

“Think puppies.” He whispers over to her unexpectedly. Sakura lets out a little giggle that feels out of place in such a somber song but when she goes to hit the note it is on pitch, not sharp. “Good!” Yashamaru says and starts moving along to the music. He plays the tune a bit faster as the chorus crescendos and then falls into the following verse.

Sakura looks down at the sheet music and smiles, reading the lyrics and starts to hit the notes leading into the next chorus. The big note of the song comes up and she pulls in a slight breath. She goes to hit the note and raises her head and closes her eyes, forms her hand into a fist and brings it near to her face and sings. The note falls a bit flat but she still continues singing to the end, “I keep calling your name, I keep calling your name… ♩”. 

Yashamaru plays the last few notes, bringing the song to a stop and turns to Sakura, “that was your best attempt so far.”

She looks at him disbelievingly, “I fell flat at the end.” She stopped feeling embarrassed after the voice cracks, flat notes and shrill sounds she's made in front of Yashamaru.

“Yes, but we can work on that. You’ve hardly ever made it that far into the song and I think I heard you really get into it,” he praises her. For the six years he’s been working with her, Sakura was always scared to put emotion into her singing when she knew there were people actively paying attention to her. She focused on precisely hitting the notes and staying on pitch. He is happy to know that she’s slowly but surely feeling more confident letting herself fall into the music. He continues, “some people are born with the soul to put emotions into their craft, others need a bit more time to find theirs… you just need more experience.”

“I told you already, though. This is just a hobby. It’s not like I plan on doing this professionally,” Sakura reminds her teacher for the nth time.

He chuckles and pats a space on the bench for her to sit, “yeah, you keep reminding me. Is there no way to convince you?”

Sakura sits down and grabs her water bottle resting on top of the piano. She takes a healthy gulp and whips her mouth. “Sensei… you know my plans after school. It's a safer option.” 

“I know. Med school. But you sang my song so beautifully. Even Shizune Kato never sounds so sweet,” he teases her, bumping his shoulder against hers as he starts moving his fingers across the keys. Sakura rolls her eyes but grins nevertheless.

“Riiiight! I still don’t know why you keep letting me sing the songs you write… especially when you work with such famous people.” 

“You know why, Sakura. I think you have a gift. Now we’ve got a bit more time left. Grab your guitar and let’s go over some chords.”

Sakura laughs and goes over to her duffle bag and guitar case. She opens the case and grabs Katsuyu. Sakura sets the red strap across her shoulder and leans forward as she starts strumming the guitar to see if she’s tuned. Music fills the apartment again as they return to practicing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter as well. Let me know what you guys think. Hopefully, new chapters will be coming as quickly as possible.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Yey! 
> 
> Whatta Man by I.O.I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrhUFv51mmQ

“Where’s Kankuro?” Sakura questions as she trails behind Temari into the living room. She sets her duffle bag near the couch and reaches for the bowl of chips sitting on the sturdy wooden coffee table. 

“Supermarket run,” Gaara answers as he changes the TV station to a variety show.

“Kankuro doing chores willingly?” The pinkette makes a shocked face. Temari snorts behind her, moving into the kitchen to grab some plates filled with sticky, delicious dango. 

“I swear, Rasa getting him that car was the best decision. He’d live in it if he could.”

“Stop teasing your brother when he isn’t here.” Karura, Temari and Gaara’s mother, is a petite woman with sandy blonde hair like her daughter. She comes out of the kitchen with a tray of napkins and green tea and sets it down. “Hello Sakura, how’s Mebuki doing?”

“Hi Aunt Karura, she’s good. She and dad decided to go out for dinner since I won’t be home tonight.”

“Aw, how romantic!” Karura ruffles Gaara’s hair as she heads to the stairs, “Your father will be late tonight so I’ll leave you kids to enjoy yourselves.” Gaara blushes and hides his face behind a cup.

“Thanks, mom!” Temari chirps and she turns up the TV. The host is interviewing a pop group on their new success and what they’re looking forward to. The two redheads smile into the camera and the redhead with a scarf in her hair says she’s looking forward to sharing their success with their fans and that there's new content coming soon. The ravenette of their three-member group says something about feeling very lucky to have such good support for such a different group as theirs. The host says it’s a pleasure talking to the subset HS3 of the Hidden Sound.

“The music scene has a new talent in the never before seen supergroup of male and female members. We wish them success! We’ll be back after this short break,” the host informs the audience as the show cuts to commercials.

“Mixed group? Imagine the hormone fest,” Temari says over the voice trying to sell the newest fast food item.

“I’d rather not imagine,” Gaara pipes up from his seat. Sakura leans over the couch handle to give him a fist bump, “that’s right, save your innocence”. 

They continue to watch TV until Kankuro comes back and pulls Gaara to help him unload the groceries. Sakura uses that time to grab her duffle bag and Katsuyu's case. She puts Katsuyu and her bag in Temari's room and grabs some clothes before heading for a quick shower. She’s been over to the Sabaku household so much it's become a second home for her. She changes into a more comfortable red crop top and black yoga pants. When she returns to the living room there are more snacks and the variety show is over and replaced with a music video countdown. The host for this show mentions that HS3 made a big entry into the pop chart top four with their first single. Their song ‘Whatta Man’ starts playing as the music video shows the three girls of the group posed in black outfits behind a red background. The video cuts to each girl when the song pauses for the dramatic build-up.

“She’s hot,” Kankuro says from his lying position on the floor.

“Which one? And yes.” Temari says from the couch as she rests her feet on Kankuro’s belly, “ugh, I can’t believe I like this song...”

“I don’t know what’s the big deal,” Sakura says in between mumbling the lyrics along with the girls on the TV, “It’s good music.”

“It hurts the image.”

“What image?” Kankuro questions.

Temari presses her foot down as if she’s moving to get up. Kankuro lets out a yelp and rolls out of the way. “That I’m a bad bitch.”

They continue to watch music videos on TV while scrolling on their phones. Kankuro is wheezing on the ground and Sakura checks to see if he’s breathing properly when she sees he’s looking at cat videos. They then both start cooing over animal videos. Temari is laughing loudly as she’s chatting with someone on social media. Gaara easily ignores his siblings when he pauses and chuckles. He looks up and calls Temari, “hey, check the link I sent.”

“What?” the blonde clicks the link and reads what’s on the screen. Her brow furrows as she processes. “That bastard!”

“Huh?” Two heads turn towards the outburst.

“I can’t believe this is how he comes back!” Temari screeches.

“Uh.. what?” Kankuro dares to ask.

“Sasori! He’s holding his latest event in Konohagakure! After two years of complete silence he goes there? How could he!”

“You sound like he betrayed your trust,” Sakura jests, "he doesn't even know you!”

“Don’t forget, Sakura, that’s Temari’s future husband,” Kankuro adds.

“My taste is impeccable. But seriously. He’s the best artist from here and he sets up shop in Konoha? Really?” Temari rants. She’s been a fan of Sasori’s work since he started collabing with an up and coming sculptor from Iwagakure she follows on social media. She knows why he wouldn’t want to come back to Sunagakure because he hates his grandmother, Chiyo. Temari heard the old lady complain about her wayward grandson too many times during her visits to the elderly woman. Chiyo is an old friend of the Sabaku siblings’ grandmother and Temari sometimes needed to go on grocery runs for the old woman. Still it’s the notion of the thing. Temari is a fan of his paintings and wood carvings and really wants to see his new work in person. And he’s never done a showing in his hometown. If he did, it would at least be more affordable for her to attend. A girl could dream.

“I’m guessing there’s a gallery soon?” Sakura sighs, she knows where this is leading.

“About two months from now… Konohagakure isn’t that far… Yeah we can make this work. We have to go. This is important.” Temari starts plotting.

“This is where she makes him fall for her in a twenty step plan,” Sakura looks over to Kankuro.

“For love!”

“You guys have fun asking dad about this,” Gaara deadpans.

Temari sighs. 

The night continues until Rasa arrives home and it’s time for dinner. Temari strategically lays out her argument for going to Konohagakure two months from now involving scouting the area nearby the campus she's planning on attending in the future and successfully convinces her parents to let them go, under the conditions that they use their allowance for gas and hotel fees. She kicks Kankuro and Gaara under the table and, with a glare, they both agree. They needed Kankuro’s car and he wouldn’t let Temari drive Karasu if he had the option and Gaara would be bored by himself for an entire weekend. Now it’s time to convince Sakura to ask her parents.

\---

School starts and progresses with early classes and compounding assignments as Temari finally breaks Sakura down into asking her parents to go to Konohagakure with them. They agree and give the friends their blessings to stay safe and have fun. As Temari plans the trip, Sakura is swamped by early tests and quizzes given by her advanced biology teacher. 

Between assignments from other classes and singing lessons with Yashamaru, who is still in Sunagakure, Sakura studies for her tests dutifully. The results are given back early and reflect her hard work. She’s proud as she walks into her guidance counselor’s office with the recently received test papers. 

“Ah Sakura! Just on time.” Maki-sensei smiles as she gestures for the chair in front of her desk.

“Hi sensei!” Said student chirps.

“Your science teachers have been keeping me up to date with your grades. Congratulations, you’re doing wonderfully.” Maki-sensei looks at the girl proudly, her dark gray eyes twinkling.

“Thank you,” a bashful response comes from the pinkette.

“This is a good time to start working on applications for university programs.” 

“Already? Isn’t it too early?”

“I think you’ll be fine if you just look for some programs you’re interested in. Your resume is very good so far. You can even begin drafting the personal essays for the applications.”

“Ok. I’ll look into that”

“Think about what you want to do and why you’re the best candidate within the sea of applicants.”

\---

Sakura sits in her room at her desk. She stares at her computer screen reflecting the med program she’s thinking about doing. The campus has good facilities and staff and is currently being run by Tsunade Senju, one of Konohagakure’s leading general practitioners.

Her parents know she’s looking at programs outside of Sunagakure. They’re encouraging it, calling it a learning experience in the real world. Temari is going to Konohagakure after high school to study business marketing and Kankuro is going to do an English program right in Sunagakure. Yet, Sakura still doubts if she should be thinking of applying for anything yet. What does she want? She wants to be successful, in any field. After hearing Yashamaru compliment her enough times she fantasizes about having a career in music. She enjoys it so much now; she catches herself singing all the time. But that’s not the safe option. That’s never guaranteed.

Sakura turns off the computer screen and goes digging in her closet for her yoga mat. Maybe some exercise and meditation will help her unwind and figure something out. She spends the next hour clearing her mind. She imagines the leaves on the trees outside beginning to brown. Autumn is months away but she can’t help but think the time is passing by so quickly. 

Eyelids open to reveal vibrant green orbs as Sakura gets up and opens her desk drawer and pulls out a thick bounded journal with pages spilling out from the edges. Yashamaru’s mother convinced Sakura early into their lessons to keep a journal to write everything and anything into it. She said it’ll be good to let thoughts out on paper even if she had no one to share them with. She spilled daydreams, nightmares, poems and lyrics unto its pages until that book became one, two, three and now four separate books.

Sakura never stopped writing in them even when she made friends with the Sabaku siblings and she kept her journals very private, only sharing their existence with Temari and Yashamaru. Temari once stumbled across book number two when she slept over by Sakura’s house and read a few entries out of curiosity. Sakura got upset until Temari apologized. The blonde complimented the pinkette on her prose. Years later as the girls got closer, after Sakura finishes a new poem or story, she would share it with Temari. She’s never finished lyrics.

She opens number four to a new page as she sits back at her desk. She starts writing. She manages four lines before she pauses. After staring at the page for a while she realized the thought bubble left her. She closes the book with a sigh and turns back on her computer to begin working on application essays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Kakashi hasn't really appeared yet but it's a slow build-up, I promise he'll show up soon-ish. I wanted to lay some groundwork before. Like I said this is an AU for sure so there's a lot of OOC if you haven't guessed.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter. 
> 
> Can you guess who the girls being interviewed are?
> 
> Next chapter has some character intros! I'm working on it right now.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if this is like a dumb idea or if I should continue with this brainchild. Feedback is most welcomed.


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